2013’s promising to become an even more exciting year than 2012, and it’s barely even begun! The battle for the best smartphone of 2013 is already seeing a lot of contenders, many of which are still rumored to be launching. But boy, when they do, believe us when we say that you as a consumer will be amazingly confused and spoilt for choice. So today, we’re pitting the awesome Sony Xperia Z against the rumored HTC M7 and Samsung Galaxy S4 to see if these two phones could pull away Sony’s expectedly huge sales.

Screen Size: In terms of screen size, the M7 could lose out a little bit due to its 4.7-inch display, while the Xperia Z has and the Galaxy S4 is expected to have 5-inch screens. In terms of resolution too, the Xperia Z is powered by Sony’s very own Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 and promises to have spectacular viewing, while the Galaxy S4 is rumored to have a 441 ppi. Looks like the M7 might fall back in this category for sure.

Tech specs: While we still don’t know the exact processor in the Galaxy S4, looks like it could most probably be a quad-core processor and 2 GB RAM. The Xperia Z’s got a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 2 GB RAM, but if you want a little more power, pick up the M7 with its 1.7 GHz dual-core processor and 2 GB RAM.

Camera: In terms of the rear camera, we have to say these 3 phones are equally matched – all of them have a 13 MP rear camera. But as of now, we think the Xperia Z has a slight edge over the others, thanks to its Exmos RS sensor that lets it reproduce high quality pictures. In terms of the front-facing camera too, the Xperia Z has a 2.2 MP one, when compared with the 2 MP front-facing camera in the M7 and the 1.9 MP equivalent in the Galaxy S4.

Another interesting feature in the Xperia Z is that it’s water and dust resistant, and that’s something we haven’t been hearing about in the M7 and the Galaxy S4. But if either of these phones will actually become more popular than the Xperia Z remains to be seen.